Top AI, ML & Medical Imaging Research Fellowships 2025-26

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the DBT Ramalingaswami Fellowship and who can apply? +
  The DBT Ramalingaswami Re-Entry Fellowship is one of India's most prestigious fellowships, offered by the Department of Biotechnology (Govt. of India). It is designed for Indian nationals and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) who are working abroad in life sciences, biotechnology, or related fields and wish to return to India to set up independent research groups. Candidates must have a PhD and at least 3 years of postdoctoral experience. The fellowship provides a salary of ₹1,35,000/month, a one-time lab set-up grant of ₹25 lakhs, and an annual contingency of ₹7 lakhs for 5 years.
• Which fellowship is best for Indian PhD students in AI/ML? +
  For Indian PhD students, the top options are: (1) Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) — ₹70,000-80,000/month at IITs/IISc, highly competitive; (2) Google PhD Fellowship — prestigious global fellowship with nomination through universities; (3) NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship — $50,000 + hardware for GPU/AI research; (4) Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship India — ₹25L+ for teams of 2 at IITs; (5) Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship — for AI/NLP/HCI researchers at top Indian institutions. For those open to international universities, the NSF GRFP (US) and ELLIS PhD Program (Europe) are gold standards.
• Can international students from India apply for the Google PhD Fellowship? +
  Yes. The Google PhD Fellowship has a specific India region that covers students enrolled at IITs, IISc, IIITs, and other top Indian research universities. Students must be nominated by their faculty advisor/university — individual direct applications are not accepted. The fellowship is open to 2nd-year or later PhD students conducting outstanding research in areas including Machine Learning, Algorithms, Privacy, Human-Computer Interaction, and more. Check Google Research's website each December for the India-specific nomination portal.
• What is the difference between a fully funded fellowship and a stipend fellowship? +
  A fully funded fellowship typically covers tuition fees, living stipend, research expenses, health insurance, and sometimes travel — essentially all costs associated with your education and research. Examples: NSF GRFP, PMRF, Gates Cambridge. A stipend-only fellowship provides a monthly living allowance but may not cover tuition or other expenses — these are common in India (CSIR SRF, ICMR SRF) where PhD tuition is already subsidized. Partial funding fellowships cover specific costs like conference travel, equipment, or a top-up to your existing salary (e.g., NVIDIA Graduate Fellowship on top of university funding).
• Are there fellowships specifically for medical imaging and AI in healthcare? +
  Yes, several fellowships specifically target medical imaging and AI in healthcare: MICCAI Fellowship (recognition + conference support for medical image computing researchers), RSNA Research Fellowship ($30K-50K for radiology AI), ISMRM Fellowship (MRI and neuroimaging researchers), Wellcome Trust Fellowship (health research including medical AI), and NIH Intramural Fellowship (computational biomedical research at NIH). For Indian researchers, the ICMR SRF and DBT Wellcome Trust India Alliance are most relevant for medical imaging careers.
• How early should I apply for research fellowships? +
  Ideally, start preparing 6-12 months before the deadline for competitive fellowships. Key preparation steps: (1) Identify 2-3 target fellowships matching your stage and domain; (2) Build a strong publication record — most top fellowships expect at least one peer-reviewed paper; (3) Identify and approach recommenders 3-4 months early; (4) Draft your research proposal/personal statement and get multiple rounds of feedback; (5) For industry fellowships (Google, NVIDIA), ensure your faculty advisor is willing to nominate you and is aware of the nomination process. Indian government fellowships like DBT Ramalingaswami have annual cycles with fixed notification dates — subscribe to DBT/DST newsletters.
• Which fellowship is best for postdoctoral researchers in India? +
  For postdocs in India: (1) SERB NPDF — ₹55,000/month + ₹2L/year research grant at Indian institutions; (2) DBT Wellcome Trust India Alliance — Early Career Fellowship up to ₹1 crore over 5 years; (3) DBT Ramalingaswami — for Indian scientists returning from abroad; (4) Newton-Bhabha Fellowship — for a 3-6 month stint in the UK; (5) Humboldt Foundation — for research visit to Germany. For those open to moving abroad, the Marie Curie MSCA (Europe), NIH (USA), and NSERC (Canada) are excellent options with higher stipends.